WRITER
Joe Eszterhas
25 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (25)
- #001
In 1990, the $3 million fee Eszterhas received for Basic Instinct (1992) was the highest amount ever paid for a screenplay up to that time. He was later eclipsed by Shane Black, who received $4 million for The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) in 1996, and by M. Night Shyamalan, who was paid $5 million for Signs (2002) in 2002.
- #002
One reason the screenplay for Basic Instinct (1992) sold for a record $3 million was a bidding war between Mario Kassar and Andrew G. Vajna, which began because each wanted to make the film through his own studio. Kassar ultimately won.
- #003
Eszterhas keeps a relatively low profile, having left Hollywood for a quiet life in an Ohio suburb.
- #004
Initially he wrote all his screenplays by hand and then typed them on a manual Olivetti typewriter using his middle fingers. Because he does not know how to use a computer and presses the keys so hard that he cannot operate an electric typewriter properly, he wonders what he will do when the typewriter ribbons run out.
- #005
In 1990, Eszterhas wrote a screenplay for United Artists titled Sacred Cows, a black comedy about a U.S. president running for re-election who is caught having sex with a cow. The screenplay was never produced because of its controversial subject, but over the years many directors expressed interest in the film or in directing it, including Steven Spielberg, Robert Zemeckis, David Anspaugh, Michael Lehmann, Blake Edwards, Miloš Forman, Jim Abrahams, Betty Thomas and Tony Bill.
- #006
In 2000, Eszterhas was diagnosed with throat cancer. He attributed his illness to years of heavy drinking and smoking four packs of Salem cigarettes a day.
- #007
In 1989, Eszterhas wrote Music Box (1989), about a father defended against war crimes charges whose guilt is revealed. Within a few years, it emerged that Eszterhas's own father had been accused of the same crimes, anti-Semitic propaganda in Hungary.
- #008
Seventeen screenplays by the legendary, prolific screenwriter Joe Eszterhas have been produced, and as of 2006 at least 25 unproduced screenplays and treatments were gathering dust on Hollywood shelves.
- #009
In 2002, Eszterhas wrote an op-ed in The New York Times apologizing for glorifying smoking in his films.
- #010
After learning that his father had written anti-Semitic propaganda in Hungary, Eszterhas severed all ties with him. He refused to see his father as he was dying.
- #011
In 1994, Eszterhas sold New Line a four-page outline of the film that eventually became One Night Stand (1997) for $4 million. Adrian Lyne was initially hired to direct the finished screenplay but left the project. New Line then made a deal with Mike Figgis to direct. Although the studio was happy with Eszterhas's screenplay, it allowed Figgis, who had scored a major success with Leaving Las Vegas (1995), to do a rewrite. The rewrite was so radical that Eszterhas no longer recognized the screenplay as his own and removed his name from the film.
- #012
Eszterhas wrote a book titled "American Rhapsody" about the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky relationship.
- #013
During surgery for cancer, Eszterhas lost four-fifths of his larynx.
- #014
In 1981, Eszterhas wrote a spec screenplay titled "Platinum," about a police officer investigating the death of his rock-singer brother and finding himself out of his element in the process. The screenplay was not bought by any studio or production company, with the general consensus being that it was "too dark."
- #015
Eszterhas's family moved from Hungary to Cleveland, Ohio, when he was 6 years old.
- #016
Eszterhas wrote and published a memoir titled "Hollywood Animal."
- #017
His nonfiction book "Charlie Simpson's Apocalypse" was nominated for the National Book Award in 1975. The book indirectly led to Eszterhas's career as a screenwriter. It was read by Marcia Nasatir, an executive at United Artists, who found it cinematic. She contacted Eszterhas and asked whether he would be interested in writing a screenplay. Eszterhas then developed the story of F. I. S. T. (1978), which the studio greenlit.
- #018
In the mid-1990s, Joe Eszterhas was paid more than $4 million for two screenplays: a comedy titled "Male Pattern Baldness" and a Russian mafia tale titled "Evil Empire." Neither film was made. "Male Pattern Baldness" was a dark, satirical comedy about a man fighting the forces of political correctness in Cleveland. Paramount bought the script for $2 million up front plus another $2 million once principal photography began. Betty Thomas and Mark Illsley were attached as directors at various points before Paramount shelved the project.
- #019
Joe Eszterhas's father, Istvan, was the author of more than thirty Hungarian historical novels.
- #020
In 1980, Joe Eszterhas set a record for the sale of a spec screenplay by selling an unproduced script titled "City Hall" to Warner Bros. for $500,000. He set another record when his screenplay for Big Shots (1987) was bought by Lorimar for $1.25 million. He broke yet another spec-script record by selling the screenplay for Basic Instinct (1992) to Carolco for $3 million. In 1994, in a landmark deal, his screenplay "Foreplay," a black comedy about serial killers, was bought by Savoy Pictures for $1 million up front and another $4 million if the film was made. Eszterhas was also entitled to 2½% of Savoy's revenue from the film and 1% of soundtrack sales. The film was never made.
- #021
Joe Eszterhas has won more Golden Raspberry Awards than any other writer in Hollywood.
- #022
Joe Eszterhas is a graduate of Cleveland Cathedral Latin High School.
- #023
Joe Eszterhas is a Republican and a supporter of the Hungarian politician Viktor Orbán.
- #024
Jeno Mate sponsored the emigration of Joe Eszterhas's family from Europe.
- #025
Joe Eszterhas was born on exactly the same day as James Toback.
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